


Lift Off

by agentstark



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Family Feels, Fluff and Angst, Minor Character Death, Nightmares, Panic Attacks, Parent Tony Stark, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Post-Spider-Man: Homecoming, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Will add tags as I go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-15
Updated: 2018-05-18
Packaged: 2019-05-07 04:28:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14663307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agentstark/pseuds/agentstark
Summary: "You'd think that after half the population of the universe vanished, and then suddenly came back to life once again, criminals would chill for a while. Like, please. People have already suffered enough, things are going back to what they were before, so that's the perfect opportunity for them to take a step back and let the world work through all the chaos.Unfortunately, the bad guys have a different way of reasoning - when there's chaos, there's also a very good opportunity to do bad stuff."In which old enemies come back from Peter's past to haunt him, and suddenly Tony Stark is not just his mentor whom he sees once in a while anymore.(Post Spider-Man: Homecoming and Infinity War)





	1. Prologue: A New Beginning

You'd think that after half the population of the universe vanished, and then suddenly came back to life once again, criminals would chill for a while. Like, please. People have already suffered enough, things are going back to what they were before, so that's the perfect opportunity for them to take a step back and let the world work through all the chaos.

 

Unfortunately, the bad guys have a different way of reasoning - when there's chaos, there's also a very good opportunity to do bad stuff.

 

Of course, Peter knows that. He doesn't want to stay at home when he knows there are people out there who won't stop robbing and killing just because they vanished for a while. After all, what matters is that they're back, and so is their awful way of living.

 

However, while Peter was… gone, a lot of stuff happened. Way too many stuff, and that May was there waiting for him when they happened, back in the apartment; that's probably the main reason she doesn't want him to go out patrolling or take part in minor missions with the rest of the team just yet, even though it's been _six entire months_. But, like, Peter's fine now. If he could decide for himself, he'd be out every single day.

 

But, well, if May was the only one who didn't want him to fight just yet, that'd be actually kinda good. He'd be able to sneak out easily, and come back before she even wakes up or realizes he's gone. Peter's done that before countless of times before she found out about Spider-Man; it wouldn't be new.

 

The problem is… Mr. Stark. Yeah. Peter would never really think of him as a problem - the man was his idol for so many years, and, well, still is - but the billionaire ended up as the main reason why he hasn't been able to do what he'd like to. Even though he is an Avenger, Mr. Stark told him to wait before he could really jump into action, which _sucks_.

 

Other the tracker in his suit, which became one of the conditions for him to officially join the Avengers, and to keep the suit itself, Mr. Stark has also someone picking him up from school every day, if that's not embarrassing enough. At first it was kinda nice even though it wasn't Happy - the man has more important things to do -, and Peter often naps on the way back and thinks how worse it was to catch the train back every day and stand on his feet for an hour straight.

 

It becomes extremely bothersome after a few weeks, though. Peter doesn't dare to go out as Spider-Man, especially since he's still a bit shaken up by everything, but as the fear gradually wears off, he slowly starts to consider it again. However, with that driver picking him up every day and dropping him at home, where May is most afternoons after her early morning shifts, it's _impossible_ to sneak out.

 

The only time he has to sneak out is late at night, when May goes to sleep, but Peter can't do anything about the freaking tracker. He doesn't want to risk Mr. Stark confiscating the suit, or kicking him out of the team. He just can't.

 

Even so, after considering it for a few days, Peter decides to risk it. Mr. Stark _is_ a cool guy. He can be a bit strict when it's about Peter's safety, especially after the whole purple-evil-alien thing, which is understandable, but he _is_ cool. He'll certaintly let Peter patrol for one night, since he knows it's something Peter is dying to do, right?

 

Wrong.

 

So very wrong.

 

It hasn't been even thirty minutes after Peter sneaks out -  he's only managed to stop two guys from robbing a car so far - and he suddenly hears a very familiar sound of jets behind him. Slowly turning around, there he finds Iron Man in all his glory, hovering a few centimeters off the rooftop Peter had just climbed, looking down at the boy accusingly.

 

"Care to explain?"

 

"M-Mr. Stark," he stutters, not very confidently, taking a few steps back. "How- How's it going?"

 

"I was just trying to sleep when FRIDAY suddenly notified me that a certain punk decided to sneak out when he's not supposed to," the man offers, his voice sounding deeper through the armor. Even though there's a high possibility he's not even inside there, the hair at the nape of Peter's neck stands straight, and his hands start to sweat. He's _so_ screwed.

 

"I just- It was just for a few hours," Peter defends himself lamely. "I haven't done this for _weeks_! I just had to! I wasn't going to get out of Queens, I swear, and it hasn't been even an hour-"

 

"Just go home, kid, before you give your aunt a heart attack," Mr. Stark interrupts. "We'll talk about it and arrange something later. But for now, do _not_ sneak out. Understood?"

 

Peter hesitates, staring back at the armor's face, wondering if Mr. Stark is truly there or not. It has been a while since they've seen each other face to face, even if the man calls he and May often, and sometimes updates him through text messages.

 

He finally nods, defeated. "Alright."

 

"Good," the armor nods back, and then quickly chances a glance downwards at the alley next to the building, where Peter webbed the two thefts to the wall with a note. "And good job there."

 

Without further ado the armor leaves, and Peter stays by himself for a while on the rooftop, torn between following Mr. Stark's orders immediately and enjoying the freedom a little bit further.

 

He only starts moving when Karen's voice startles him, "Mr. Stark asked me to tell you he'll come back to "kick your ass back home" if you don't move in the next minute."

 

"Oh, shit."

 

He webs his way back home, successfully entering his room, showering and putting his suit away without waking up May.

  
  


.

  
  
  


The next week passes by quite slowly.

 

Peter’s _so bored_.

 

Every day is the same thing: wake up for school, go to school, get picked up by Mr. Stark’s driver, get home, do his homework and revise, mess around with his suit’s mask and talk to Karen, have dinner and go to sleep. And then repeat it all the next day. Sometimes it varies, of course. He has Decathlon practice often, and he went to Ned’s house quite a few times the past few months, but other than that Peter is stuck in this routine, anxiously waiting for Mr. Stark to just _say something_.

 

He tries texting Happy, but the man, unsurprisingly, doesn’t text back. Mr. Stark doesn’t call for a few days so Peter assumes he’s busy, and since he doesn’t want to be the annoying kid that texts him every day to just get what he wants, he just keeps on texting Happy, hoping it'll make a difference.

 

(It doesn't. But he keeps doing it anyways.)

 

Peter just doesn't understand why Mr. Stark doesn't show up if he's so invested in Peter's well-being. He gets that the man is busy, but if he's going as far as sending a suit after Peter when he sneaks out _once_ , shouldn't he be around more often?

 

May catches up on his inner struggles quite quickly. She knows him like the back of her hand, and vice-versa, so it's not that surprising she realizes something's up.

 

She decides to bring it up during dinner on a Thursday night. They're eating quietly, which is really weird; the both of them are talkative - maybe even too much - and the silence is usually filled by May complaining about her gossipy coworkers or Peter whining about annoying school related things, such as homework, or Flash.

 

He's looking down at his plate, playing with the food with his fork when she suddenly drops her cutlery, rubbing her face tiredly with her hands when the tension inside the room is too much.

 

“Pete,” she starts with a sigh. “Listen, I know you want to go out do your Spider-Boy thing–”

 

“It’s Spider- _M_ _an_.”

 

“–but you know that’s not safe yet. Tony agrees with me. Yesterday he was even telling me–”

 

“Wait, yesterday? He called yesterday?”

 

“Yeah,” May nods, looking surprised by the question. “He calls _all_ the time to ask about you. I guess he knows you too well and knows you won’t say anything if there’s something wrong.”

 

“I don’t do that,” Peter mumbles, looking down at his plate once again.

 

“Look, that’s not the question,” May sighs. “The thing is, you know it’s not safe–”

 

“It was _never_ safe, May,” Peter argues. “That’s the whole idea. I only started the Spider-Man thing because it’s _not_ safe out there! I don’t–”

 

“I’m not talking about that,” she interrupts him briskly. “I’m talking about _you_.”

 

Peter hesitates for a second. “What?”

 

“Pete, you’ve _just_ turned sixteen,” she says, sounding frustrated. “And you’ve already had a whole building dropped on top of you – don’t look that surprised, of course Tony told me – went to a different planet, and vanished completely from reality–”

 

“May, I’m fine,” Peter interrupts, voice softer than before. “I really am. I wasn’t going to do anything dangerous; just be the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, you know? I’d only stay at Queens, and I could patrol only during the day, and come back before dinner–”

 

“I don’t know, Peter,” she sighs, shaking her head.

 

“But please! I would be _fine_. If there’s something more dangerous, I’d call Mr. Stark and stay out of it, I swear.”

 

She considers it for a few moments, staring at him thoughtfully. “I’ll have to talk to Tony.”

 

“Yes!” Peter exclaims, knowing if that May shows some consent, Mr. Stark will certainly go along with it. “Yes! Thank you, May!”

 

She looks like she knows she might regret it later, but the smile she shows Peter is warm anyways.

 

He thinks it’ll take a few days until he sees Mr. Stark to discuss his knew patrol schedule or whatever, so he goes to school the next day without expecting an eventful day. He doesn’t even bother to pack his suit, which would be something completely unthinkable a few months ago – he’d _always_ be carrying his suit around.

 

Even so, as soon as he enters the familiar car parked in the usual spot – at the back of the school where there aren’t a lot of people around, just in case – he startles when he notices someone’s already there.

 

“M-Mr. Stark!”

 

“Hey, kid,” the man offers him a small smile as the driver pulls off. “How was school?”

 

“I was- It was fine,” Peter says, quite breathless. Will they _finally_ talk about Spider-Man? “Yeah, I- It was good.”

 

“Great,” Mr. Stark says. “Just wanted to take you with me to the compound upstate to talk about something – and don’t worry, I’ve already talked to your aunt.”

 

“Oh, really? What- About what?”

 

“You’ll see,” Mr. Stark offers unhelpfully, turning away and pulling out his phone. "But first, _food_. I'm starving."

  
  


.

  
  
  


Peter has already pinched himself a few times while Mr. Stark wasn't looking, just to make sure this is real.

 

Mr. Stark not only took him to the Avengers compound, but to his personal lab full of Iron Man prototypes and other things which, even though Peter doesn't know exactly their function, are the most awesome things he's ever laid his eyes upon.

 

"So, kid," the man calls him after a few minutes, after letting Peter walk around and goggle at his stuff, not bothering to hide his amusement. "Let's focus now, shall we?"

 

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, sorry," Peter says quickly, hurrying to stand closer to where Mr. Stark is sitting.

 

"Okay, so, let's get straight to the point. I've talked to your aunt," he starts, and almost immediately Peter can feel his heart race. "And- well, I was already expecting her to call and talk about it, since living with a kid as insistent as you _can't_ be easy-"

 

"Mr. Stark."

 

"- _but_ , since I was waiting for her consent on the matter, I couldn't do anything about it," he continues, taking a tiny remote control from the table and pointing it to the opposite, empty wall. "Until now."

 

The empty wall turns out to be a hidden closet, which opens to reveal a suit. A _Spider-Man_ suit, only with a slightly different design, but that's okay since _anything_ that Mr. Stark does turns out to be pretty awesome and _cool_ , so Peter would never complain about something like that if that means he's getting a new-

 

Wait.

 

"A-A new _suit_?"

 

"Let's not panic now," Mr. Stark chuckles, getting up from the chair to stand next to Peter, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Breathe, kid. Yes, it's a new suit - an upgraded one."

 

"Upgraded?" Peter echoes unbelievingly. "How did you even _upgrade_ the one I already have? It has _everything_ -"

 

"Not everything," Mr. Stark shakes his head. "I was thinking about it, and there are a lot of features I didn't think of adding the first time round. I thought of just adding them to the one you have with you but I didn't want to take it from you for too long so... problem solved."

 

"But- I don't- _New features_?"

 

"Yeah, some pretty cool stuff," Mr. Stark nods, looking up at the suit thoughtfully. "But most of them are safety-related, which I made sure you won't be able to deactivate this time."

 

"I'm back at the Training Wheels Protocol again? But _Mr. Stark_ -"

 

"Don't Mr. Stark me, kid," he holds up a hand. "This is to keep you safe. And no, you will have access to the things you had before. Well, _most_ of them. Instant-Kill Mode is definitely something we don't need right now."

 

Peter has to agree with that one.

 

"But why I can't have access to everything? I thought I was good after everything," he mumbles, kinda regretting it a few seconds later. Here's Mr. Stark being the _coolest person_ to ever live by gifting him the best suit ever and he's complaining?

 

"That's what I want to talk to you about," Mr. Stark replies, unfazed. His hand lands on Peter's shoulder again, and squeezes it firmly. "It's something I've discussed with your aunt, too. We want you to start training. For real, this time."

 

"T-Training? _Here_?"

 

"Yeah, on the weekends. Or whenever you can, as long as it doesn't affect your academic performance," Mr. Stark explains. "Remember you have your own room?"

 

"Wait- that _wasn't a_ _test_?"

 

"Okay, you gotta sit down for this."

 

He actually makes Peter sit down on the chair he was occupying before, then pulls one from a nearby table for himself, settling down in front of him.

 

"We can't just let you go around fighting crime when you haven't had any kind of training before, despite how strong you are," Mr. Stark explains, and Peter, not bothering to hide himself pinching his forearm, listens attentively with wide eyes. "And since you're already pretty skilled, this will be a piece of cake. Once you're good enough, I'll let you have access to everything, okay?"

 

Peter's eyes just widen even more in response.

 

"Kid?"

 

" _Yes_ , o-okay," Peter nods quickly, trying to remember how to breathe. "I'm just so- I wasn't- Mr. Stark, this is the _coolest thing that has ever happened to me_ -"

 

"Alright, we're done here," the man stands up, patting him on the shoulder as he passes by him to head towards the suit. "So, you wanna try it out?"

 

Peter stands up so quickly he actually feels dizzy for a second.

 

 

 

 


	2. Back in Action

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Pretty awesome, right?"
> 
> "Mr. Stark-"
> 
> "This is the coolest thing you've ever seen, I know," the man interrupts him. "Now get your ass moving before you get hit."

The suit is the coolest thing Peter has ever owned.

 

No exceptions.

 

Like, he did end up trying the suit on that day after school when Mr. Stark took him to the Compound, but he literally  _ only _ tried it on and had a look at the new features without testing them. Peter just couldn't wait to try out the mechanical Spider-arms again, or the enhanced lenses, or the mask filter or  _ everything _ else. 

 

It seems like Mr. Stark really thought of everything. Peter can't think of single situation he wouldn't be able to get out of, which were serious problems for him previously. Like, drowning? Mr. Stark said the mask had eight minutes worth of compressed air capacity. Getting stuck under a building all by himself? With the Spider-arms, and the upgraded communication system, that would  _ never _ happen again.

 

Mr. Stark promised he could come back the next day so he could _ really _ try it out though, so naturally, as soon as the sun starts to raise in the horizon Peter shots up from his bed and starts packing his backpack to catch the first bus to take him back there.

 

It's a bit tricky to explain who he is once he actually arrives there by himself, but thankfully he spots Happy passing by and asks him to let the secretary know Peter does know he's in a secret base and that  _ yes _ , he does know Tony Stark personally and he's not just a crazy kid trying to bypass security.

 

Mr. Stark is already up and working in his lab when Peter finally gets there, not looking surprised at all by seeing him so early in the morning. 

 

"I assume you already ate breakfast?" he asks, not even bothering to look up from whatever he's working on as the elevator doors close behind Peter.

 

"Yes, yeah, I did," Peter nods. 

 

"Great. Put on the suit then, we're heading out there," Mr. Stark says, using the same tiny remote control from the previous day to reveal the suit. "You have ten minutes, or else I'm leaving without you."

 

Peter doesn't need to be told twice.

 

He takes the suit out of the display mannequin and heads to the spacious bathroom in the back of the lab, where he quickly strips out of his clothes and gets into the suit, wearing over his underwear. It hasn't even been five minutes but when Peter runs into the lab once again, the window is open and Iron Man is outside hovering in front of the building, clearly waiting for him.

 

As soon as he spots Peter he takes off, albeit not as quickly as he's able to, and Peter doesn't hesitate before throwing himself out of the window - May would have a heart attack -, using his webs to keep him from taking a nosedive, shooting them against the side of building and the pillars surrounding it.

 

It's been  _ so long _ , and Peter's so full of energy that he doesn't hold back, managing to catch up with Mr. Stark as the man leads them to a huge area behind the Compound buildings. Peter lands on the grass, looking around confusedly as Mr. Stark stops next to him, lifting the helmet to offer Peter a smile.

 

"How does it feel?"

 

"It's  _ great _ ," Peter replies enthusiastically. "It feels so light!"

 

He's telling the man the absolute truth - he never thought something as heavy-looking as the Iron Spider Armor would feel so light on his body, letting him do all kinds of flips and stretch his legs and arms in all different angles. Without even mentioning how  _ badass _ it looks-

 

"Good," Mr. Stark nods, putting on the helmet once again. "Let's have a look at these new features I told you about. FRIDAY, set up our training camp, please."

 

While Iron Man lifts off and hovers around and right beneath Peter, he stays there on the ground, feeling goosebumps arise all over his skin at the sight in front of him. Huge gaps suddenly start opening on random spots across the field with a mechanical humming sound, and thick metal pillars raise from them, as if trying to imitate skyscrapers. 

 

"Welcome to our simulation training field," Iron Man's robotic voice says from beneath him. "We have some underground fields too, where most of the team prefer to train, but I've heard kids need fresh air and sunshine so here's where we'll be most of the time. Pretty awesome, right?"

 

"Mr.  _ Stark _ -"

 

"This is the coolest thing you've ever seen, I know," the man interrupts him. "Now get your ass moving before you get hit."

 

"What-"

 

He turns around only to find a  _ hoard _ of drones coming right at his direction while shooting red-colored lasers. They probably as tall as Peter's knees, as wide as his waistline, and kind of scary-looking. 

 

Not that Peter will admit that last part out loud. 

 

Since he doesn't really want to find out if those lasers hurt if they hit him, he webs away from them, quickly climbing on top of one of the pillars. 

 

"What even  _ are _ they?"

 

"Since it's your first time, they're not programmed to hurt you," Mr. Stark explains, flying around and watching from afar as Peter ducks to avoid lasers and webs around the field to get away from them. "But, if you get shot- well, there you go."

 

While Mr. Stark was speaking one of those things manages to hit him on the base of his spine, and it sends an intense and weird tingly sensation all over Peter's body, and he momentarily loses control of his limbs. He falls face first onto the grass, but quickly rolls over to hide behind one of the pillars.

 

"What the  _ fuck _ ," he pants.

 

"Uh, language, please," Mr. Stark reprimands, and Peter watches him as he settles down on top of one of the pillars across the field leisurely. "You just need to stop them all. You know, robots are a pretty popular thing, especially among aliens," he keeps talking while Peter shoots webs at two of them, quickly spins them around and uses them to hit a handful of other drones. "When  _ I _ was fighting those aliens in New York back in the day, those things were  _ everywhere _ . I wish I had trained like this beforehand-"

 

"Karen, web grenade!" he shouts, using the setting to shoot at the drones hovering at highest point above him while dodging lasers - at this point he's already realized they must wait a few seconds before shooting again, so it's not a hard task. The drones are instantly neutralized and fall to the ground, exploding as soon as they hit it. "Oh, _ crap _ ! Mr. Stark, I'm-"

 

"Don't worry about destroying them," Iron Man waves a hand from where he is. "We build and fix those inside the lab in record time. Oh, look behind you-"

 

As quickly as his reflexes allow him, Peter turns around, shoots a web at the drone flying towards him, and like he had done before, spins it around and uses it to hit his robot friends. 

 

It takes quite a while to clear them all - Peter is shot a few more times, and some of the drones he thought he had taken down sometimes were not hit hard enough and after a few minutes start to follow him once again. Meanwhile, Mr. Stark cheers from where he's sitting as if he's watching a particularly exciting basketball match, but doesn't move a single muscle. 

 

"Alright!" he exclaims once everyone is down - the drones finally dead, and Peter following down the same path, laying down with his stomach down against the grass while panting. "Good job here, kid."

 

"Thanks," Peter manages to wheeze, feeling his body  _ burn _ despite the cooling system his new suit was built with.

 

"Level Two?" Mr. Stark offers cheerfully, landing next to him.

 

Peter pretends to pass out.

  
  
  


.

  
  
  


Thankfully Mr. Stark wasn't serious about keep going straight away, and instead he lets Peter rest for a while. Afterwards they test some other features while Peter is not under life-threatening conditions, such as the trusted Spider-arms and new web shooting settings. 

 

A little later they head back to the compound and Mr. Stark properly shows him his quarters. It's like a little apartment, with a living area and a bedroom, but Peter doesn't even mind since he'll only sleep there on the weekends - either way, the place is awesome. Mr. Stark has a  _ great _ taste for interior design.

 

After showering and changing back to his normal clothes, he heads to the man's own living quarters, where Mr. Stark said he would be waiting for Peter so they could eat something before he went home. His official training sessions will start the next week, so Peter makes a mental note of bringing a good amount of clothes to leave there, just in case.

 

"I think this weekend training thing will work," Mr. Stark says at some point as they eat. "But you can't go patrolling until your aunt says so, alright? She was already nice enough to let you come here and train."

 

Peter nods, but thinks about how that wouldn't make a difference before. Like, he went to freaking Germany to fight Captain America without her knowing about it, and Mr. Stark was fully aware of that. But still, after... everything, Peter guesses it's natural for him to respect May's decisions. Mr. Stark went from the  _ cool-but-strict  _ mentor to the  _ quite-overprotective-but-still-kinda-cool  _ mentor very quickly, but Peter doesn't mind that change too much anymore. He has a very long list of things to be thankful towards Mr. Stark, so following rules to please him shouldn't be that hard.

 

"Cap wants to have some kind of bonding training session soon, so I'll update you on that as well," the man comments. " _ Please _ hide your inner fanboy beforehand."

 

Peter holds himself back before letting a " _ ohmygodanavengersbondingsession _ " out of his lips, and decides that just nodding again is the safest answer.

 

Mr. Stark looks content.

 

Happy drives him back home afterwards, and Peter comes home to a slightly worried but excited May, who hugs him by the door and asks him to tell her everything as soon as he steps in. 

 

He does exactly that, and after finishing some homework and having dinner, Peter falls asleep as soon as his head hits the pillow.

  
  
  


.

  
  
  
  


He can't breathe. Everything hurts, and Peter's sure he's just broken a handful of bones.

 

He can't _ breathe _ .

 

Peter tries screaming for help, to anyone to get him out of there, but he finds that he can't use his voice. His mouth is wide open, but nothing comes out of it - instead, tears cascade down his cheeks, blurring his view.

 

It hurts. It really really hurts-

 

"H-Help," he finally gets the word out, but it's useless. He's way down there in order for someone to notice him. "I'm s-stuck!"

 

Where's Mr. Stark? Why can't Peter contact him? Why can't he _ breathe _ -

 

He hears a deep rumbling sound on top of him, and his whole body freezes. The building's skeletron made of concrete and iron is still falling apart, he realizes, and his heart skips a bit when he realizes what that means. He desperately wants to move to get out of the way, but the weight on top of him is too great, and  _ he's going to get crushed _ -

 

Peter opens his eyes, recognizes his room. He lets out a shaky, relieved sigh.

 

He's okay. It was just another stupid nightmare.

 

He wipes off the tears on his face hastily, annoyed. He's  _ not  _ a baby anymore. He's not supposed to be crying because of silly bad dreams, especially when they're about something that happened over a year ago. A  _ lot _ of pretty bad things happened since then, and Peter doesn't understand why his subconscious keeps going back to that moment every other night.

 

Peter just wants to sleep peacefully for once, is that asking too much? He can't even remember what was the last time he had a full eight hours of sleep. He needs the energy for school and his weekly trainings sessions at the Compound - he doesn't want to let Mr. Stark and the rest of the team down just because he hasn't been having enough sleep, especially because the past few weeks have been like a dream come true.

 

After a few more training sessions with Mr. Stark, the whole team gathered for missions simulations for "team bonding" - Cap's words, not his - and Peter even managed to score a crash course of hand-to-hand combat with freaking  _ Black Widow _ . Like,  _ what _ ? Honestly, he couldn't possibly ask for more.

 

Actually… maybe going out in patrols again would be nice, but that can wait. Peter knows that once Mr. Stark considers him ready to go, he'll be able patrol without restrictions since they'll know he's good on his own. Other than that, the thought that he'll come back even stronger than before to face anything that might threaten his neighbourhood excites him, and only makes him train harder.

 

Peter gets out of the bed with that mindset after waking up from that awful dream, pushing it to the back of his mind. He has more important things to worry about, including Happy who will pass by his apartment in an hour to take him to the Compound for another superhero themed weekend - as Mr. Stark likes to call it - for more training sessions which will mostly consist of near-death experiences. 

 

He  _ can't wait _ .

 

.

  
  


It's only him and Mr. Stark today.

 

It's actually kinda embarrassing to admit, but these are Peter's favorite days. There's some kind of pressure when the others are present, something that tells him he should do his absolute best and nothing more, but when it's just the two of them Peter feels like he can chill a bit more, joke around more. It's more familiar to him.

 

Mr. Stark seems to enjoy is as well, but as usual, he doesn't really take part in the training and just cheers for afar. The simulations have become gradually harder as the weeks went by, but Peter feels like his body managed to get used to it with time, so it's nothing he can't handle. In fact, he can even train by himself without Mr. Stark's supervision every so often when the man has to head back to his lab to take a call or work on something.

 

It ends up happening today as well. They've just finished a session when Mr. Stark announces he will go to the lab to grab something and will be back in a second; Peter watches the Iron Man armor lift off and decides that an extended resting time won't be that bad. 

 

He webs his way up to one of the pillars similar to the ones they used for his first time in the training field, and sits on top with his legs crossed, resting his face on the palm of his hand as he watches cars and jets come and go every so often. It's a nice view, he decides. Even the weather it's nice; the gentle breeze brushing against his sweaty face is gentle and refreshing, and soon Peter's eyelids are fluttering shut. He is a bit tired - the previous night had been quite rough regarding nightmares, and he's certain that Mr. Stark will take a while to come back-

 

"Peter!"

 

"I'm awake!"

 

Peter jumps up, startled by Mr. Stark's voice. He just hopes the man won't think he was slacking off just because he wasn't looking-

 

"Are you alright? What  _ happened _ ?"

 

"Huh?" Peter says, looking around as the Iron Man armor stops and starts hovering right in front of him. "I think nothing happened?"

 

Mr. Stark lifts the helmet, revealing a deep frown. "FRIDAY was notified by Karen that your suit was damaged because it was being exposed to an extremely high temperature, so I thought something happened because they're never wrong-"

 

" _ What _ ? But I was just sitting here! Look!" he raises his arms, showing him the intact suit. "Nothing happened."

 

That doesn't ease the concern on the man's face. "This is weird," he mutters. Even though he's staring right at Peter his mind is clearly elsewhere, and he's silent for a few seconds. "FRIDAY, were you referring to Peter's old suit?"

 

"Yes, boss," Peter then hears the clear, feminine voice of Mr. Stark's IA. 

 

"Damn it," he curses then lets out a deep sigh, lowering down until he lands on the grass. 

 

Peter follows him, heartbeat picking up. "M-Mr. Stark, but my old suit is back in the apartment? What- What does that mean?"

 

"FRIDAY, is Peter's old suit still exposed to the heat?"

 

"No, boss."

 

"It means something happened," Mr. Stark declares quietly, still looking rather thoughtful. All at once he seems to realize what he's just said though, and he hurries to place a comforting hand on Peter's shoulder. "I bet it's something silly, kid, don't worry. I can envision your aunt trying to iron the suit, don't you?"

 

"Yeah," Peter nods, chuckling weakly. "I-I do."

 

"So let's not panic," Mr. Stark tells him, squeezing his shoulder. "You'll see everything's fine. Try to call her using your suit to ask what happened, alright?"

 

"Okay," Peter nods, putting the mask back on with shaky hands. "Karen, call May, please."

 

"Calling May," Karen announces, and the picture Peter assigned for her contact appears before his eyes on the display.  _ It'll be alright _ , he tells himself. May always picks up when Peter calls, especially when he's away in the Compound during the weekends.

 

They both wait in silence, waiting for her to pick up the call. It takes a few tense moments until a female voice breaks the silence, and Peter almost lets a huge sigh of relief.

 

But it's not May.

 

"May is currently not available at the moment," Karen informs him, and that's when Peter knows there's something horribly wrong.

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much for the kudos and comments ahhhh i wasn't expecting this much love! <3
> 
> i told you the angst was coming don't say i didn't warn you :')
> 
> let me know what you think about this chapter! the next one will be up within a few days hopefully, and i'll post a fluffy (i swear) peter&tony oneshot very soon so please look forward to that as well :D
> 
> ps. i think i might just mention this in every chapter but i do not have a beta reader right now so pls forgive me for silly mistakes! i plan on working with one once the fic is finished but for now it's just me and my terrible proof-reading skills!!

**Author's Note:**

> oh wow this was pretty happy right??? 
> 
> just wait ;)
> 
> let me know what you think!
> 
> btw sorry for any weird mistakes, i don't have a beta reader and i suck at proof reading :(


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